Is it worth paying privately to have spine surgery?

If I had the money I would go private. I had my first opp on L4 L5 S1 in 2014. I had further surgery the beginning of this year. And I am now waiting to have my 3rd. I am sure if I payed private 1 opp is all I would have needed. Hope

This helps.

Hi Gabriella

What type of surgery do you need, ?? In my view whatever the type of surgery you need, will most of the time be done by the same or one of his colleges from the same hospital, the only reason to pay privately is to a, get it done quicker and b, the recovery process might let you stay in a few extra days as your paying.

Re my comments on the surgeon check the surgeons at your local hospital and then check the clinic your thinking of going to and see if they are listed.

Regards

George (UK)

Hi Gabriella,

I can can only speak from personal experience. I had my ACDF (C6/7) done privately, simply because I had health insurance through work. I saw the same surgeon that I would probably have seen on the NHS through choice, but it was just quicker. My GP refused to even believe there was something wrong with me (problems manifesting in shoulder but turned out to be caused by neck) until I told him I had healthcare. He suddenly had a change of heart and recommended a referral.

Anyway, my experience was that the surgeon was brilliant, as was the anaesthetist etc. Most, if not all, practice in the NHS but also work privately. HOWEVER, the nursing after care I received was appalling. Turns out that if you have surgery privately you'll simply be put into a general ward, not specialist spinal care. They messed my meds up, kept forgetting to re-attach the DVT prevention pumps to my legs after I'd been to the loo etc etc. They just didn't seem to know what they were doing. They also released me with no medication plan and I had many MANY pills that I had to work out my own schedule for - not easy when you're on the likes of tramadol, gabapentin etc. 

It's possible that this was simply the private hospital I was in, but I would investigate. My op actually became an emergency in the end, so I may well have ended up elsewhere had I not already been in the private healthcare system. I think it comes down to timing (how quickly can you be seen on the NHS) and also who can treat you/ operate. Do your research and see what options are available to you. Personally speaking the aftercare was a real let down for me and I struggled massively. I don't know how this would have been on the NHS. 

Hope this helps.

Tammy

 

I went private 13 years ago sent home with no aftercare, no follow up, I was in an old part of a hospital with the old fashioned pull down chains on the loos, I was taking into the loos to have my drain removed and passed out in the loot after l4/5 fussion, Iv struggled with daily life since and never returned back to work as a result, I also have a cyst compressing my thiracic spine as a result of surgery and also have cervical degeneration, so much more but not going to bore you, I think it comes down to research and ask docs questions on there success rate, don't be shy it's your life at the end of the day, good luck 😊

Thank you it doesn't really seem worth going private then as long as I'm prepared to wait which I am because surgery is still a last resort and I want to try more things first

It depends on the problem hun, I paid privately to go to a specialised spinal hospital with the top surgeon in the UK and it was worth it but you could find that in the NHS you could have the same surgeon who would be doing it privately so you need to check it out. It is not a cheap option to go private so you need to know you have spent your money wisely.

Hi.. we paid £25,000 for a spinal fusion..decrompression and dislcsectomy.. q1 hour op at the park nottingham.. all i can say is..please make sure u know the hospital has spinal trained nurses fir after care.. thdy have the correct beds ie.. electric.. tbe phsio knows how to deal with a major op.. the problem we found was private hospitals are used to dealing with breast inplants face lifts.. etv etc.. and even medical things like kidney stones.. but spinal surgery is complex i reseached the best surgeon but the after care was not good or professional.. so look from beginni h to end.. tbe main positive is u get in quick..😊 goid luck c